Rouages: “Supporting the development of life sciences projects”
Pascal Verdié is a research engineer and head of the chemistry platform Synbio3 specializing in the synthesis of peptides and polymers, affiliated with the Max Mousseron Institute of Biomolecules. He supports scientists in their research projects and trains students in synthesis techniques. It’s a job he loves, and he talks about it in Rouages, the video series produced by the University of Montpellier. Action!
Balard Chemistry Hub. In these long corridors where everything seems identical, every door holds a mystery and a host of questions. How can you tell if this room houses a colony of indestructible arthropods or the biomaterial of the future? As the morning draws to a close, it is with a gleam in his eye that Pascal Verdié reveals his own treasure, hidden in a refrigerated cabinet: 4,000 compounds synthesized, characterized, and used for biological testing. “They are all barcoded, all the result of the team’s work over the past thirty years.”
Molecular balance
This team is from the Max Mousseron Institute of Biomolecules and Synbio3, the platform affiliated with it, which is headed by Pascal Verdié. The on-camera interview is over, and although he handled it brilliantly, the engineer’s relief is palpable as he shows us around his little world.“Here you have a liquid chromatography system coupled with mass spectrometry. It allows us to detect and quantify all the natural or synthetic molecules we’ll be working with.” ” A skilled communicator, he explains that mass spectrometry works“like a scale; we’ll be able to determine the molecular mass of the sample we’re preparing and thus know whether what we’re expecting is present or not.”
Researchers, doctoral researchers even industrial partners—many of them turn to the Synbio3 platform to synthesize or purify molecules, whether peptides or polymers.“This device, for example, is used for about 20,000 analyses annually. Translating the needs of our partners and collaborators into services is part of my role. Our goal is to provide them with a custom-made biomolecular product.” In this role, Pascal Verdié is supported by nine other engineers, two work-study students, and student interns. Contract workers may also join them on more ad hoc projects.“This platform brings together professionals, expertise, and equipment to support the development of life sciences projects.”
At the border
Next room: amid fume hoods and lab benches, students in lab coats and safety goggles are busy working with their test tubes and take the opportunity to see Pascal Verdié to ask for advice or share an observation.“A large part of my work is dedicated to training. We help them collect their data and teach them how to use the equipment.” Every year, around fifty students learn here the various techniques of peptide synthesis and spectrophotometric methods to observe the effect of molecules on materials or cells.“I help train the researchers of tomorrow; I support doctoral students in their projects; I help them grow scientifically. It’s a profession where you pass on a lot of knowledge and where you learn an enormous amount as well.”
The engineer takes the quality of this knowledge transfer very seriously, as evidenced by the various certification initiatives that this native of Montpellier has led since the platform’s launch in 2007 alongsideProfessor Subra. “We obtained the Ibisa certification (Infrastructures in Biology, Health, and Agronomy) in 2013, a very important milestone for us.”Since then, Synbio3 has joined the ChemBioFrance network and is pursuing ISO 9001 quality certification to professionalize its operations. Another facet of Pascal Verdié’s multifaceted career.“I work at the intersection of several fields: chemistry, biology, engineering, and science. In the team, we like to compare me to Chandler Bingfrom the TV series Friends, because with him, too, no one ever knows what he’s up to.”